swift boat
1
6.0
A fast boat that carries people quickly across water
- noun
- /swɪft boʊt/
:
lancha rápida
- During the mission, the team relied on a swift boat to navigate the river rapidly.
Examples
-
They decided to hire a swift boat for their trip to the nearby marina.
-
Hats off to the swift boat veterans!
Blog text (17) -
The navy used a swift boat to quickly transport supplies to the remote island.
Synonyms
speedboat
vsswift boat
27
2.4
A small fast boat with a motor used for racing or quick trips
is used mainly for general transport rather than racing
How Fast
Surface Forms
swift boat singular
swift boats plural
Morphology
The meaning 'a fast boat' is directly and transparently built from 'swift' (able to move quickly) + 'boat' (a watercraft); a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the phrase's meaning. This simple adjective + noun composition follows a common cross-linguistic pattern and shows no idiomatic or metaphorical shift.
Etymology
Swift boat is a simple compound of swift and boat. Imagine a small, fast boat cutting through the water to reach a place quickly, so it means 'a fast boat used for transport'.